Graceful Eruption

  • Released Friday, April 4, 2014
  • Updated Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 8:43AM
  • ID: 11517
On April 2, 2014, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 10:05 a.m. EDT, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured imagery of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

This video from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the flare in a blend of two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light: 304 angstroms and 171 angstroms, colorized in red and yellow, respectively.

Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.

A mid-level flare, an M6.5, erupted from the sun on April 2, 2014, peaking at 10:05 a.m. EDT. This image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the flare in a blend of two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light: 304 angstroms and 171 angstroms, colorized in red and yellow, respectively.

For More Information

See http://www.nasa.gov/content/20140402-nasa-releases-images-of-m6.5-class-solar-flare/#.Uz7VE8fdGE4

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Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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